SB 708, as amended, Mendoza. Pupil nutrition: free or reduced-price meals: online applications.
(1) Existing law requires each school district and county superintendent of schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate, free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to supervise the implementation of this program and to investigate acts of alleged noncompliance.
This bill would authorize the governing boards of school districts and county superintendents of schools to also make applications for free or reduced-price meals electronically available online.
The bill would specify requirements that would have to be met by the governing boards of school districts and county superintendents ofbegin delete schoolsend deletebegin insert schools, and school food service personnel,end insert who choose to provide access to an online application under this bill.
The bill would require all applications to include clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on local educational agencies, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact
2legislation to improve access to children from refugee and
3immigrant households to child nutrition programs.
Section 49557 of the Education Code is amended to
5read:
(a) (1) The governing board of a school district and
7the county superintendent of schools shall make paper applications
8for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times
9during each regular schoolday, and may also make an application
10electronically available online, provided that the online application
11complies with paragraph (3). Pursuant to federal and state
12guidelines, the application shall contain clear instructions for
13families that are homeless or are migrants, and shall also contain,
14in at least 8-point boldface type, each of the following statements:
15(A) Applications for free and reduced-price meals may be
16submitted
at any time during a schoolday.
17(B) Children participating in the federal National School Lunch
18Program will not be overtly identified by the use of special tokens,
19special tickets, special serving lines, separate entrances, separate
20dining areas, or by any other means.
21(2) A school district and the county superintendent of schools
22shall use all other paper applications it has for free or reduced-price
23meals before utilizing the applications pursuant to this subdivision.
P3 1(3) If the governing board of a schoolbegin delete district,end deletebegin insert district orend insert a
2county office ofbegin delete education, or a school food service officer choosesend delete
3begin insert
education chooses, or school food service personnel choose,end insert to
4provide access to an online application for free or reduced-price
5meals pursuant to paragraph (1), the online application shall comply
6with all of the following requirements:
7(A) Include a link to the Internet Web site on which translated
8applications are posted by the United States Department of
9Agriculture, with instructions in that language that inform the
10applicant how to submit the application. The Legislature finds and
11declares that federal guidelines require school food authorities to
12accept and process these applications if they are submitted to the
13school food authority.
14(B) Require completion of only those questions that are
15necessary for determining eligibility.
16(C) Include clear instructions for families that are homeless or
17are migrants.
18(D) Comply with the privacy rights and disclosure protections
19established by the federal Richard B. Russell National School
20Lunch Act (Public Law 113-79) and the federal Children’s Online
21Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-277).
22(E) Include links to all of the following:
23(i) The online application to CalFresh.
24(ii) The online single state application for health care.
25(iii) The Internet Web site maintained by the State Department
26of Public Health
providing ZIP-Code-specific referrals to the
27Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and
28Children.
29(iv) The Internet Web site of a summer lunch program
30authorized to participate within the city or school district.
31(F) No online application for free or reduced-price meals shall
32be made available online or made accessible online by a school
33district, county office of education, or school food servicebegin delete officerend delete
34begin insert personnelend insert if the online application allows for the information
35provided by an applicant to be used by a private entity for any
36purpose not related to the administration of a school food
program,
37or if the online application requires an applicant to waive any right
38or to create a user account in order to submit the application.
39(b) The governing board of each school district and each county
40superintendent of schools shall formulate a plan, which shall be
P4 1mailed to the State Department of Education for its approval, that
2will ensure that children eligible to receive free or reduced-price
3meals and milk shall not be treated differently from other children.
4These plans shall ensure each of the following:
5(1) Unless otherwise specified, the names of the children shall
6not be published, posted, or announced in any manner, or used for
7any other purpose other than the federal National School Lunch
8Program.
9(2) There shall be no overt identification of any of the children
10by the use of special tokens or tickets or by any other means.
11(3) The children shall not be required to work for their meals
12or milk.
13(4) The children shall not be required to use a separate dining
14area, go through a separate serving line, enter the dining area
15through a separate entrance, or consume their meals or milk at a
16
different time.
17(c) When more than one lunch or breakfast or type of milk is
18offered pursuant to this article, the children shall have the same
19choice of meals or milk that is available to those children who pay
20the full price for their meal or milk.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
22this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
23local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
24pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
254 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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